Q: 3.4 — Predicting Eclipses: Accuracy to the Second

Astronomers can predict the timing of solar and lunar eclipses with an accuracy of a few seconds for thousands of years into the future and past. These predictions are based on mathematical calculations that rely solely on the spherical Earth model.

If the model were wrong, the predictions would fail. But they do not fail; they are realised with literally astronomical accuracy. Today, you can know the date of the next total solar eclipse with second accuracy, based on the same spherical model.